Wailua Shave Ice thrills palates of mainlanders

Two years ago Brandon Baptiste and Josh Tamaoka served their Wailua Shave Ice from a tiny red trailer in Kapaa. They’ve since scaled up, to a Winnebago staffed by 15 employees, and that’s just what’s going on at home on Kauai. They’re also opening stores on the mainland.

Customers at their newest location, in Portland, Ore., line up an hour before doors open; diehards wait for two. To break up the bottleneck, a rush order was put on a second Fujimarca ice-shaving machine.

The shop opened June 25, and already 2,300 fans follow it on Instagram while local media publishes articles and videos. Online reviews warn about the wait, then praise “the best shaved ice ever” or gush that eating one “feels like you’re in Hawaii.” Never mind that some have not yet picked up on the fact that it’s “shave ice.”

Another location, which opened June 10 in San Diego, also sees brisk business.

“We didn’t expect what’s happening,” Baptiste said over the phone from the shop in Oregon, above the din. “But Portland is all about food. It’s like their hobby.”

Of course, you don’t have to be obsessed with food to appreciate quality. Traditional shave ice is often ordered by color, not flavor. Wailua Shave Ice tops globes of fluffy ice with organic cane sugar syrup and local fruit.

On Kauai, Uala Nui shave ice, with Okinawan purple sweet potato puree, coconut milk and roasted coconut flakes, has a fanatic following. Bright yellow pulp and crunchy black seeds tint Lilikoi Cream, which includes vanilla bean milk.

The seasons dictate Baptiste’s menu, and farmer deliveries can change the menu as often as every two days. This year, mangoes came in a little earlier than last year, and lychee a little later. The shave ice flavors rolled with the changes.

And “local” is a movable concept. Baptiste has already bought blue­berries for the Portland shop. It takes time to find farmers, develop relationships and learn seasons, but he’s working on it.

Frequent favorites include the Lava Flow, with a splash of pineapple syrup, coconut foam and lazy curls of strawberry puree. For colorless cravings, Coconut x Coconut x Coconut combines coconut milk, haupia foam and roasted coconut flakes. Love Potion #9 seduces with strawberries and vanilla bean milk.

“We love Hawaii and want to elevate things that are nostalgic to us while keeping it comfortable and familiar,” says Baptiste, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, Calif., and former cook at Thomas Keller’s restaurants Per Se in New York and The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif.

Plans for an Oahu location wait while a fourth shop opens in Kilauea early next year. There are also plans to open a restaurant on Kauai.

Marta Lane is a freelance writer who owns the tour company Tasting Kauai. Reach her through TastingKauai.com.